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Friday, February 06, 2009

Senate Reaches Deal on Stimulus Package

by Calculated Risk on 2/06/2009 08:11:00 PM

From the WSJ: Senate Leaders Reach Compromise on Stimulus Plan

Senate Democrats have struck a deal on a $767 billion economic stimulus package, several senators said Friday.

The deal is expected to bring on enough Republicans to ensure support of passage in the Senate, which will likely require 60 votes. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) told reporters late Friday, "We have a deal."
...
The size of the package has been reduced to around $767 billion from the original $885 billion plan the Senate brought to the floor on Monday, Sen. Kent Conrad (D., N.D.), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said.

The spending side has been reduced from $349 billion to $263 billion, while the tax credits have been reduced from $342 billion to $324 billion, Conrad said.
It sounds like the ill-conceived homebuyer tax credit made the cut, as CNBC reports:
Senator Kent Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, said measures including a homebuyer tax credit and auto tax credit would remain in the final package.
We need to see the details, but it sounds like they made the package smaller and the composition worse.